Feeding the World: Human Impact on Food Supply

 

How Humans Increase Food Production

Humans have developed techniques to grow more food to feed the increasing population. Let’s explore these methods:

Technique	How It Works	Examples
Agricultural Machinery	Machines make farming faster and easier.	Tractors for ploughing, harvesters for collecting crops.
Chemical Fertilisers	Nutrients are added to soil to improve plant growth and crop yields.	Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilisers for better plant health.
Insecticides	Chemicals kill insects that damage crops, improving yield and quality.	Spraying crops to prevent locust infestations.
Herbicides	Chemicals kill weeds that compete with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients.	Spraying fields to remove weeds like dandelions.
Selective Breeding	Farmers choose the best plants or animals to produce better offspring.	Breeding cows for higher milk production or crops with disease resistance.

 

Monocultures: Pros and Cons

A monoculture is the farming of a single crop over a large area. This method is common in large-scale agriculture.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Easy to manage and harvest.	Depletes soil nutrients quickly.
Efficient use of machinery.	Increases vulnerability to pests and diseases.
Produces large amounts of food quickly.	Requires heavy use of fertilisers, insecticides, and herbicides, harming ecosystems.

 

Intensive Livestock Production: Pros and Cons

This involves raising many animals in a small space to produce meat, milk, or eggs efficiently.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Produces large quantities of animal products.	Animals may live in poor welfare conditions (e.g., cramped spaces).
More efficient than traditional farming.	Can lead to the spread of diseases due to overcrowding.
Reduces land use compared to free-range.	Pollution from animal waste can harm nearby water bodies (e.g., eutrophication).